Channeling Home Style: Inside TV Design Stars' Downtown L.A. Stores

Downtown L.A. is booming again, and TV design stars are getting into the retail action. Taking the decorating talent back to the streets, a trio of small-screen designers has opened new home stores all within a three-mile radius.

angelo:HOME Store (pictured left)

Angelo Surmelis, who has regularly appeared on HGTV, TLC and Lifetime design shows, has opened a home shop on the ground floor of downtown’s iconic Eastern Columbia Building in the Broadway Theater District. With signature seating, tables, lighting, bedding and lots (and lots) of colorful accessories all designed by Surmelis and carried in hundreds of stores nationwide, angelo:HOME is his first dedicated showroom. According to the designer, the space functions as a design test lab that lets him focus on honing that sweet spot between stylish and affordable home finds. 847 South Broadway.

One of the most recognized faces on HGTV’s Design on a Dime, Kristan Cunningham and husband Scott Jarrell have taken their passion for avid collecting downtown, opening Hammer and Spear, a residential design firm and retailer for vintage and new home items. “We realized that there was no place for loft dwellers to buy furniture and home goods,” says Cunningham. “We want to be a resource to the neighborhood and beyond." Not only do they offer collectable vintage pieces by noted designers -- a pair of Paul McCobb Planner Group chairs or a Percival Lafer leather armchair and ottoman -- they also have selected unusual items like Kiriko scarves made of classic kimono fabric from Portland, Oregon and a New Zealand men’s apothecary line, Triumph and Disaster. 255 S. Santa Fe Ave., #101.

Residential and commercial interior designer Nadia Geller has appeared on more than 100 episodes of design shows such as Trading Spaces and While You Were Out. And now she’s opened a studio and storefront in the Arts District. “This area boasts a variety of treasures and creative thinkers,” says Geller, “and it’s an amazing blessing to launch this market where I can sell some of my favorite pieces.” Specializing in custom upholstery, the store offers a variety of signature pieces -- think tufted headboards and sofas with shibori fabric -- that can be personalized to any home, aesthetic and budget. Also on sale -- signature lotions, candles and soaps, all created from local recycled materials. 1801 East 7th Street (located on Mill).